Why can’t we all just get along?

“Those who are faithful know only the pleasures of love: it is the faithless who know love’s tragedies.”

Oscar Wilde

“For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

William Shakespeare

“Love stinks.”

J. Geils Band

KERRVILLE — When we last saw Bryan Demaree, he was homeless, underemployed, and had been humiliated in front of his adopted city by getting a grand total of 8 — that’s eight — votes in the last two municipal elections.

You wouldn’t think things could get worse.

You would be wrong.

Just when life was going badly, Demaree found love. And then his life got really bad.

The love triangle

Demaree’s social life resembles an episode of that old TV show “Moonlighting,” but without the witty bon mots, rugged leading men and fashion models.

Demaree, in an e-mail to me, set the scene:

“I went to court for an arraignment on three charges of criminal trespass, one charge of harassment and one charge of resisting arrest.

(The owner of the condo apartment complex where I live) signed the trespass notice after my live-in girlfriend and I were having some difficulty establishing groundwork in our relationship. She and I were married on May 7th. She decided to hire an attorney to get the marriage annulled. This was done on May the 30th in Kerr County Court-at-law with Judge Spencer Brown presiding. Complications between she and I were escalated by the fact that I have another girlfriend living in the same condo complex.

Pretty cool, eh?

Demaree met the first woman in 1987, when she was having car problems in a parking lot in Kerrville. He helped, they hit it off and, when Demaree wasn’t hitchhiking, they lived together in her condo.

All was well until he met his future ex-wife, who offered him a ride as he was walking down Sidney Baker last April. Turns out that she lived in the same condo complex. They talked for hours, spent the night at her place, and he proposed the next day. He moved his stuff to her condo. They got married on the same day that voters handed his head to him.

Then, things got weird.

Love and booking papers

The newlyweds had a tiff on Mrs. D’s way to church choir practice. Mr. D. followed her there. A ruckus ensued, and several male members of the choir escorted Demaree out of the building. The cops were called and he was arrested.

There had been other fights between the new couple. The condo manager, hoping to keep the peace, filed a trespassing complaint. The cops were called and he was arrested.

Demaree moved back in with the first woman. A month after the annulment, his ex-wife put out word — through a convenience store clerk, naturally — that she wanted to reconcile. They got back together, but got into another lover’s spat as she went out with friends to eat at the IHOP. When Demaree walked across town to confront her, the cops were called and he was arrested.

She went to court shortly afterward and got the annulment.

For those of you keeping score, that’s a proposal less than a day after they met; a wedding 19 days later; and an annulment 23 days after that.

Demaree tried twice to talk to her and reconcile. Each time, he was arrested.

The good news is that the condo manager’s complaint was rescinded. And Demaree has learned his lesson.

“(My ex-wife) may be erratic,” he said.

Next month, Demaree goes to court for a preliminary hearing on charges of resisting arrest, harassment and three counts of criminal trespass. Prosecutors are asking that Demaree go to the Kerr County jail for 30 days. Fines, court costs and probation costs total $1,500 or so.

Here’s how he closed his email:

“(My ex-wife) and I still see each other and are on good terms. She walks her dog around the complex and we visit, but I’ve learned that I have a long ways to go before I can have a steady relationship with anyone, except for (my girlfriend), who still accepts me at her house.”

Elsewhere on MySA today

Steak. It’s what’s for dinner in Bulverde.

How hard is it to cook a steak? You fire it up, you flip it and you throw it on a plate.